Sous-vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for longer than normal cooking times at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55° C. (131° F.) to 60° C. (140° F.) for meats and higher for vegetables. Current sous-vide circulators tend to be designed like scientific equipment consisting of an AC motor above the water and shaft attached to a submersed impeller that agitates or pump water. The problem with this type of design is that the entire motor mechanism must stay above water and the integrity of the system is susceptible to accidental drops into the water much like a dropping a hair dryer into the sink. Additionally, AC motors require extensive venting cooling to prevent overheating of the system and is susceptible to steam.
Furthermore, the traditional scientific design leads to restricted configurations that attempt to keep vapors and steam from entering the interior of the circulator device.